


Prerequisite

by SharkGirl



Series: Sousuke's Birthday Bash 2016 [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Cute, Funny, Gen, Post-Canon, Prerequisite Courses, Stag Beetles, group projects, poor sousuke, sousukesbirthdaybash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 04:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8042860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: At the moment, Sousuke felt especially aged, as he was a third-year college student sitting in a freshman biology class.





	Prerequisite

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 is upon us!! Time for some SouMomo~  
> (And that completes the Samezuka pairings!)
> 
> This fic was actually supposed to be much longer, but, with time constraints and such, I decided to end it where I did. It's still funny, but I skipped all of the drama.  
> Maybe I'll go back and write more about this AU later, but not now.
> 
> Unbeta'd. Please enjoy!

Sousuke always felt older than everyone else.  Maybe it was because of his bum shoulder or because he was usually the tallest in his class.  Or maybe it was the fact that he’d needed to shave since he was sixteen.  But, no matter the reason, he just felt old.

At the moment, however, he felt especially aged, as he was a third-year college student sitting in a freshman biology class.

It wasn’t that he’d been putting the course off.  It was just that he’d already taken a science class.  But, since switching his major to Sports Medicine, a meeting with his academic advisor and a quick degree audit report showed that he needed to complete Biology 1001A before he could move on to his major-specific courses.

It wasn’t ideal, but he had no choice.

He could already feel the eyes of the two giggling girls who’d walked in after him boring into the back of his head, the question, ‘Are you sure you’re in the right class, Mister?’ on the tips of their tongues.

But, before they had a chance, someone called out to him in an excited voice.

“Sousuke-senpai? Is that you?!”

It had been a couple years, but that particular energetic tone was hard to forget.  Sousuke turned and saw a tall boy – much taller than when he’d seen him last – with bright orange hair and sparkling golden eyes, waving to him from the doorway.

“It _is_ you!” Momotarou beamed as he walked over and took the empty seat beside him, slinging his messenger bag over the back of his chair.  “I heard from Ai-senpai that you were going to this school, but I didn’t expect you to be in one of my classes.” He was all smiles and hard slaps on the back.

“How’s it going, Momo?” Sousuke managed, wincing slightly and imagining the red, hand-shaped mark between his shoulder blades.

“Things are great!” The younger boy – no, man now, Sousuke supposed – grabbed his notebook and a pen from his bag. “I was the only one in my orientation group who already knew my major.” His smile widened and Sousuke found it contagious.

“Is that right?” he asked, reaching into his own bag for his mechanical pencil.

“Yup!” Momo puffed out his chest proudly. “Entomology,” he said and then leaned closer, cupping a hand to his lips like he was sharing a deeply guarded secret. “That’s the study of insects.”

Sousuke should have guessed.

“How about you, Senpai?” he asked, propping an elbow on their shared desk and resting his chin in his palm.

“Sports Medicine,” Sousuke replied, toying with his with pencil. “I switched from Athletic Training and, as it turned out, I needed this class as a prerequisite.”

“Ah, that explains it.” Momo closed his eyes and nodded. “But, I’m glad.”

Sousuke turned to see golden eyes twinkling up at him.

“Oh?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“Now we can be study buddies.” Momo flashed a blinding grin and Sousuke fought the urge to slam his own head against their desk.

 

As it turned out, their class was heavily participation-based.  There were only a few tests and attendance was taken every day.  But the most surprising part was the group project, which was to be completed over the course of the entire semester and counted for seventy percent of their grade.

“You can work in groups of up to four people, but no less than two,” their professor droned on. “This project is extremely important and I want to see that you all take it seriously.” He cleared his throat.  “If you are unable to form groups on your own, I will assign them.”

Sousuke frowned.  He knew one person in the entire class and he wasn’t exactly sure how he and Momo would click.  Sure, they were on Rin’s ‘Dream Relay Team’ – the redhead’s words – but swimming together and working together were two completely different things.

“Please fill out your project applications and turn them in to me before the end of the week,” the professor added just as the bell rang.  “I look forward to your submissions.”

Sousuke shook his head and began putting his things away, including his blank project application form.

“Pretty heavy for the first day, huh?” he asked, but Momo didn’t answer.  He turned to find the younger man hastily scribbling away on a piece of paper. “Momo?”

“Almost done.” He stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he finished, twirling his pen with a flourish. “There!”

Sousuke cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow.

“What do you think?” Momo held the paper forward, biting his lip as he tried to contain his excitement.  Sousuke took it, his eyes scanning the page.  Momo had put the two of them together – no surprise there – but his idea for their project was a little…

“Stag Beetle Dietary Study?” Sousuke asked, lowering the paper and blinking.

“Isn’t it great?” Momo was practically vibrating. “I’ve had this theory that the food they consume affects their overall attitude and well-being.” He paused. “I mean, nothing makes them sad or anything, but sometimes Pyuntarou is really active after a certain meal and Pyunichirou is super lethargic when he eats-”

“You know we have to work on this for the entire semester, right?” Sousuke asked and handed the paper back, standing up and shouldering his bag. “Don’t you think that’ll get a bit…” he trailed off when he noticed how enthusiastic the younger man looked, waiting to hear what he had to say.

Sousuke took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his.

“What exactly does it entail?”

 

The project was easy enough.  Momo already had the four stag beetles they’d be studying living in his room – much to his roommate’s displeasure, Sousuke was sure.

“Okay.” Momo walked in front of their tanks, pointing to each one as Sousuke sat on the younger man’s bed.  “You already know Pyunsuke.” He gestured and then sighed, sticking out his lower lip. “Gou-san gave him back when she went away to college…”

Sousuke felt a little guilty when Momo sniffled.  It had been his idea to give the beetle back.

Gou had actually tried to release Pyunsuke into the wild – she felt it was cruel to keep him in a jar and she was not about to drop thousands of yen on a proper set up – but, as it turned out, he wouldn’t leave her side.  She kept him in an old fish tank until she had to move out.

Giving Pyunsuke back to Momo was probably the best option since Sousuke couldn’t imagine Rin and Gou’s mother taking care of a beetle every day.  Of course, just as the thought entered his mind, he pictured Mrs. Matsuoka sitting at their kitchen table and drinking a cup of coffee while reading Pyunsuke the morning paper.

“And that’s about it.” Momo said, dusting off his hands and putting them on his hips.  “Easy, right?”

“Uh…” Sousuke cleared his throat. “Would you mind going over that again?”

“Sure!” Momo beamed. “Which part?”

“All of it?”

The younger man didn’t seemed deterred, in fact, he appeared quite happy.  Maybe this assignment wasn’t so bad.  Momo’s smile and laughter reminded Sousuke of the old days and it was comforting.

“So, Pyunsuke and Pyuntarou will be getting beetle jelly, black sugar and fruit, respectively,” he said, pointing to the two largest beetles. “And Pyunichirou will be fed bananas, while Pyunjuurou will have a diet of tree fruit, like peaches and apples.”

“…Okay…” Sousuke looked at the tanks, the decaying branches inside taking up most of the space.  There was a soft humming and then water sprayed down from beneath the lid, dousing the beetles with a fine mist.  “Uh…?”

“Those are their humidifiers,” Momo explained. “Beetles tend to dry out easily, so you have to keep their bedding moist…”

As Momo went on, face bright and shining and arms gesticulating in every direction, informing Sousuke of where the food was kept, which beetle was which, where their feeding and exercise schedule was kept – _exercise_ _schedule!_ – Sousuke, not for the first time since entering the younger man's room, began to wonder if it was too late to switch to a different group.

Momo was still chattering away.

“And this is where I keep their individual journals.”

Sousuke groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands.

This was going to be a long semester.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I decided to end it there.  
> Originally, I was going to go through the whole semester and then something super dramatic was going to happen with one of the beetles and things were going to get tense between Sou and Momo (with a happy ending, of course) but I ran out of time!
> 
> Let me know what you think and hit me up on tumblr [@jubesy](http://jubesy.tumblr.com)!
> 
> I still have five more fics to write for Sousuke's Birthday Bash ^^; Wish me luck!


End file.
